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Jacket
Jacket (real name unknown) is a playable character in Hotline Miami and a side character in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. Hotline Miami Jacket is the protagonist of Hotline Miami and the playable character for most of the game. His name started out as a nickname by players, but then Dennis started calling him Jacket in various interviews. Over the course of the game, the protagonist dons various animal masks, leading to other fan nicknames, and performs a number of brutal assassinations in response to cryptic messages left on his answering machine. SPOILER WARNING: PLOT DETAILS BELOW After another masked assassin attempts to murder the protagonist in his own apartment, he spends his last chapters pursuing those he feels are responsible. Most of the protagonist's chapters follow a similar structure. The player begins in his apartment and checks his answering machine to receive details about the mission. The player character then drives to the location and the player navigates the building while killing enemies and achieving any extra objectives. Early chapters end with the protagonist visiting a store or bar where his conversations with the employees serve to provide context and exposition for the storyline. Details about the protagonist are sparse, leaving the player to infer details based on observing changes from chapter to chapter. This sparse detail, including no given name, is partly why some fans use the name "Jacket". At the start of the game, the protagonist's apartment is filthy. He acquires a roommate after the chapter Decadence, when he brings a drug-addled hooker home with him. Over time, they form a domestic bond and his apartment becomes more tidy. Ultimately their separate beds are pushed together and other characters refer to her as the protagonist's girlfriend, implying that they have become romantically involved. In contrast to his apartment becoming more orderly, the protagonist's perceptions of reality begin to degrade. He revisits a decrepit room where three masked figures pose questions about the nature of his actions while never providing answers. His apartment and the locations around town become populated with gory figures resembling the mobsters he's murdered. And the various friendly shopkeepers are all replaced by a hostile man, who is later revealed to be the playable character's would-be assassin. The combination of an unstable reality, and the protagonist eventually waking from a coma, suggests that much of the game has taken place in a dream where said protagonist recalls the actions that lead up to being hospitalized. After escaping the hospital, the playable character tracks down the assassin (who is in police custody) that was sent to kill him. He then sets his sights on the mob boss he believes responsible for all the phone calls that set the story in motion. He's noticeably inspired by The Driver from the film Drive (Which is already a big inspiration for the game itself) as they both have blonde hair, similar hairstyles, and a unique accessory/piece of clothing that they are recognized for (In this case Jacket has his Varsity jacket, and The Driver; his Scorpion jacket). At the end of Hotline Miami, Jacket is seen releasing a Polaroid into the wind whilst standing on the balcony. This photograph is the Polaroid of Beard and Jacket together taken in front of the bar by Evan during the Hawaii conflict. Playstyle Aside from Jacket being able to wear the most masks out of any character in the series, Jacket has two abilities that are not available with any other playable character in the series. * If the player attempts to execute a standing mobster then Jacket will simply pull out the mobster's throat, killing them. * Jacket can also take a knocked down mobster as a human shield when armed with certain firearms. Jacket can snap the mobster's neck at any time when the player does not feel like using them as a human shield anymore, or if the mobster takes too much damage from bullets. Jacket also swings melee weapons faster than any character, executes enemies with melee weapons the fastest, and has a high rate of fire with the shotgun. Hotline Miami 2 Following the events of Jacket's massacre, a slasher film is inspired by the story, but instead features an actor named Martin Brown as a cold-blooded serial killer called the "Pig Butcher". The levels are set up as scenes for the film Midnight Animal, in which the Pig Butcher "kills his victims" while under the control of the Rooster persona named Richard, that also haunted Jacket in his hallucinations. Jacket's "adventures" have also inspired a group of new protagonists called The Fans, who idolize him as some sort of ultimate vigilante. The Fans imitate Jacket's "adventures" by using his "masked vigilante" act to kill random thugs all across Miami. SPOILER WARNING: PLOT DETAILS BELOW In Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, Jacket has been found by the police in Ivan's Mansion and is now facing trial in court for his massacres. It is revealed that Jacket is sent to Jail for his crimes. He is seen playing with a small green ball in several of his appearance during this period. It is eventually revealed that, prior to the events of the first game, Jacket was fighting a war against Soviet troops in Hawaii alongside the "Ghost Wolves", an elite squad consisting of him, Beard, Barnes, and Daniels, led by a US Army Colonel. During an assault on a Russian power plant, Jacket was severely injured in an explosion as the plant entered a meltdown. He was saved by Beard, who told him "It's on the house," and giving him a polaroid of the two of them as a keepsake. Half a year later, after the two were discharged, he called Beard to discuss a personal problem he had experienced. Beard consoled him, trying to change the subject to that of the polaroid, but cut the conversation short to investigate a disturbance outside the store - revealed to be an impending nuclear detonation. It is heavily implied that these events influenced his perception of the first game's plot, as several aspects of his past blended together into his coma dream. While the nuclear detonation at the end of the game almost certainly killed Jacket, there are some fans who speculate that he may have survived, due to his absence in the Hard Mode opening cutscene. However, this theory does not account for the fact that Biker is not featured in this sequence either, nor are any of the non-playable characters who died in the game, implying that it only showcases the playable characters of Wrong Number. In the Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Level Editor, sprites released in the 1.04 patch reveal that his appearance has changed drastically from the first game, but still maintains the same base appearance. His Varsity Jacket is now partially opened (revealing a white shirt instead of the Teal in Payday 2/Hotline Miami Artwork) the off neon style is no longer seen on him either, revealing a pair of dark blue pair of skinny jeans instead of the light blue denim of the first game, and a dark yellow-brown version of his varisity jacket, he still however has the same hair style, and dark blue and white sneakers. Usable Weapons These are the weapons, Jacket will be able to use throughout the two games (Hotline Miami 2: Level Editor is currently unreleased, so some usable weapons when the LE is released may not be usable in HLM2) *Knife *Baseball Bat *Lead Pipe *Golf Club *Crowbar *Pool Cue *Broken Pool Cue *Frying Pan *Pot *Katana *Sledgehammer *Machete *Baton *Trophy *Fireaxe *Drill *Briefcase *Machine Gun *Shotgun *Double Barrel *Uzi *Skorpion *Magnum *Silenced Pistol *Silenced Uzi *MP5 *Ninja Star *Beer Can *Dart *Hammer *Brick *Scissors *Glass Bottle *Throwing Knife *Kalashnikov (Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Level Editor) *9mm (Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Level Editor) Jacket has the most amount of usable weapons out of any character in the series at 36 weapons Jacket's Personality We never get to see what Jacket looks like, or ever hear him speak. However, throughout the game there are numerous cues to what kind of personality Jacket is, one being the worsening conditions of his apartment. *He is into video games, as there is a Nintendo Entertainment System in his bedroom. *He follows the news, and cuts out and saves any article related to his murder spree. *He eats a lot of takeout pizza and junk food, suggesting a lack of home cooking skills. *He likes to wear printed T-shirts. *He drives what appears to be a DMC DeLorean, indicating a taste for higher-end sports cars. *He owns a varsity jacket, leading some players to call him "Jacket" (his real name is unknown, although it is rumored to be Richard.) The "B" on the jacket most likely represents his last name, as it is common for people on sports teams to be called their last name. *He likely suffers from stress because he's playing with a small green ball in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. *Also as evidenced by Hotline Miami 2:Wrong Number, Jacket could potentially be religous, as seen by the bible in his prison cell before the nuke goes off *He might have contacts with close relatives or friends, as there is a bouquet of flowers next to his hospital bed, suggesting that someone visited him during his coma. *He's assumed to be ambidextrous, as evident by how he holds certain weapons and often switches between being left handed and right handed. *He doesn't have a toilet in his apartment. **According to Dennis Wedin in IGN Live, they forgot to put it in there. *He appears to not like killing Civilians as he vomits after he kills his first Civilian victim in Metro. However any civilians working with the Russian Mafia he does not vomit, or hesitate to kill them, because of their behavior against him. *He often does not care about people, even for those who show respect for him (Although because it is a dream, this can be considered deniable, as he may have joined 50 Blessings to avenge Beard's death by repressed regret.) *He's probably not afraid to die, as he goes onto several extremely dangerous missions, or he simply wants to take down all the mobsters before he is killed. *Jacket has blond hair, and his face can be briefly seen if he dies. (paying homage to the Nicholas Winding Refn film Drive as the character Driver (played by Ryan Gosling) has blonde hair as well) *The varsity jacket he wears might imply he doesn't buy new clothes often or he misses his younger days. (however due to the ending credits in its Special Thanks section; the game thanks Nicholas Winding Refn due to his directing work in the movie Drive as it pays homage to the character: Driver as he is often wearing a white and unique jacket with a scorpion on the back of it compared to the unique varsity jacket that Jacket wears.) *He displays perfect signs of a sociopath due to his mute character and usually just takes what he wants whenever he goes into a VHS Rental Shop, Mini-Mart, Nightclub or Pizzeria but however shows sympathy for the Hooker in Decadence, bringing her home, and even avenging her death. **According to Dennis Wedin in a reddit AMA, Jacket is not actually mute. *He is a smoker as he is shown puffing on a cigarette before the closing credits, and in his appearances in Ambush, and Casualties. **He may be a heavy smoker. This is shown in the Ambush level where he is smoking beside the tent, surrounded by several dozen used cigarettes. *His exact age is unknown, although it is noticeable he might be on his late 20s/early 30s. *On various artwork pieces his jacket is shown to be brown, however in-game it is yellow due to the off-color neon art style of the game. *He has a military background, as he was a member of an elite US army divison called the "Ghost Wolves" which was led by the Colonel. This can also be seen in how he wields weapons, as he wields the Silenced Pistol, Machine Gun, Shotgun, and the Double Barrel Shotgun in a professional manner. *Jacket may have golfing experience as seen by his perfect swing posture while executing an enemy using the golf club. Trivia *It is possible that Jacket's real name is "Richard," since it is the first mask received in the game (mailed to him personally by 50 Blessings), and it grants no special abilities. All masks in the game are named after their original owners, if Richter's mask is any indication. To support this, the artwork (besides the game poster) he is wearing the Richard mask. **In the cut-scenes where Jacket is in a dark room with Richard, Don Juan, and Rasmus, Richard wears the same clothes as Jacket, further supporting this. * On the Dennaton Games website there is a picture of Jacket with the name "Fritz" embroidered onto his jacket. This could also be his last name if the above is true. It could just be the name on the jacket, as there is no indication at all that the jacket originally belonged to him. * Jacket is the only playable character who doesn't get a single line of dialogue in the series. ** Until Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number digital comics' first issue where he says at the beginning: "So this is what the end looks like... Beautiful...". ** Beard is shown talking to Jacket via telephone, but Jacket's dialogue is shown only as "...". * Canonically (e.g. in-game, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, official artwork) Jacket owns the Tony Mask, the Richard Mask, and the Aubrey Mask, and has used the Fireaxe, Baseball Bat, Pistol, Throwing Knives, Shotgun and/or Machine Gun, Double Barrel and Trophy. * Jacket is referenced several times in the heist game Payday 2. He is shown at the end of the Hotline Miami DLC trailer, beating an unnamed mobster with a baseball bat, several animal masks can be purchased for the Payday 2 heisters, and the DMC DeLorean is the getaway vehicle in the Hotline Miami heist day 1. As of the Hotline Miami 2 Update, Jacket is now a playable character who uses pre-recorded messages to communicate with teammates, and comes equipped with a Mark-11 (Mac-11) submachine gun and a hammer named 'Carpenters Delight'. His associated Perk Deck is "Sociopath", for obvious reasons. * Jacket's signature varsity jacket may be based off of the varsity jacket of Kavinsky, who wrote one of the songs featured in the soundtrack of the movie Drive. * Jacket resembles Jasper Byrne, one of the music artists for the game. ** In Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, his suit sprite reuses Jasper's sprite from the first game. *While in the game Jacket collects several masks, in the digital comics he only owns the Richard mask while the other are found by the police on other 50 Blessings dead operators. *In the digital comics, it stated that Jacket's the most infamous of the "Killer Beasts". * It has been confirmed that Jacket will appear in the planned Hotline Miami 2 level editor. * Throughout the first Hotline Miami, Jacket kills up to (and possibly over) 389 people. * Jacket does in fact have dialouge, but it is only represented with "..." 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